The case docket on the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) over the $72 million software scandal is expected to be handed over to the Attorney General (AG) for advice in two weeks’ time, Daily Guide can confirm.
Executive Director of the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), K.K. Amoah, made this known yesterday during an interaction.
“We are still working on it. How far? I can tell you we have gone about three quarters or more in the investigations. It’s still going on,” he told Daily Guide in a brief interaction in his office, which covered a wide range of subjects, particularly with regards to what he (Amoah) had been doing since he took over affairs at the EOCO early this year.
“We will put the docket and everything together and go to Attorney General’s Office. We should go to law office in about two weeks’ time and it will take the Attorney General time to study this case,” he stated, as he glanced through piles of case documents before him.
Appeal
“Mind you it is OBS, Operational Business Suite, very, very technical so you need those experts in that field to understand the intricacies of that job,” he said.
He appealed to the general public to exercise patience with the investigative body in probing cases of corruption and other serious organized crimes.
Over 15 Probed
Shedding light into the investigations that have gone on so far in the SSNIT deal, Mr Amoah indicated that more than 15 officials of the Trust had appeared before EOCO for their alleged involvement in the scandal.
“So far, the number of people who appeared before us are more than 15 but those whom we are holding responsible should be about four or five, including the former Director General (Ernest Thompson),” according to Mr. Amoah.
One Hagan, believed to be the Project Manager at SSNIT, is also being held responsible for the rot, the EOCO director disclosed.
Former SSNIT Board Chairman and National Democratic Congress (NDC) 2020 presidential hopeful, Prof. Joshua Alabi, has also been invited by EOCO for questioning over the stinky deal.
About The Deal
The Operational Business Suite software was procured from a La-based company – Perfect Business System – in Accra.
Perfect Business System is headed by a certain Juliet Kramah, who is said to be close to the former first family.
The contract, awarded in 2012, was to automate processes at the Trust at an initial contract sum of $27 million but Mr. Amoah told DAILY GUIDE that the Trust ended up spending more than $72 million.
Asked what accounted for that, he said management had indicated that there were some changes they needed to make as pointed out in the contract itself.
He said the ‘bloating’ of the contract was caused solely by SSNIT’s management under Ernest Thompson, with Joshua Alabi as board chairman.
Silence
The minority NDC in Parliament has so far been silent over the SSNIT software rot, leaving many well-meaning Ghanaians to wonder why the party, which is best noted for hurriedly organizing press conferences to comment on topical national issues, has decided to be mute.
Other Cases
Meanwhile, Mr. Amoah told DAILY GUIDE that there were more than 40 other cases before EOCO for investigations.
Some of the cases, he said, are frivolous, misdemeanors, some bordering on the economy of the country. The cases, he said, involved several millions of dollars and cedis.
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